Depression Treatment – JoAnna McTevia - MSW, LCSW, LAC – Thornton, CO

Depression treatment offers you the chance to learn more about why you struggle to feel happy and take the necessary steps to find lasting relief. Thornton, CO

Is Depression Pulling You Away From All That You Love?

Do you feel weighed down by sadness, hopelessness or grief? Perhaps you are struggling to cope with a recent death, job loss or relationship issues, and you are finding it difficult to engage with the world. Or maybe you do not know why you have started to feel powerless to negative thoughts and emotions. You may feel unmotivated to fulfill your work responsibilities and spend time with your friends and family members, which makes you worry that your sadness could affect every area of your life. It’s possible that you have lost sense of joy and possibility, even in the activities and hobbies you once loved. Are you living with some of the burdensome physical symptoms of depression, such as fatigue, body aches, headaches, sleeping issues or muscle weakness? Do you wish you could relieve your emotional pain and live a happy, fulfilled life?

Depression can make you feel like you move through each day in a fog, disjointed from your loved ones, your responsibilities and your hobbies. In the morning, regardless of whether you tossed and turned all night or slept for many hours, you may feel very tired and dread getting out of bed to start your daily routine. You may even call in sick to work or cancel your plans for the day because you feel drained of energy. If you end up going to work, you might feel lost and ineffective, ultimately causing frustration and anxiety about your productivity. At the end of the day, you may feel like crawling right back into bed or watching television instead of spending quality time with the important people in your life. When you interact with your loved ones and friends, you may pretend to be happy, while inside, you feel cold, angry, distant and deeply alone.

Losing Sight Of The Joy In Life Is Very Common

Depression is one of the most common mental ailments, affecting about 16 million individuals in the US. Although the symptoms of depression may make you feel isolated, regardless of what you’re experiencing, you are not alone. While many people may develop depression after experiencing a recent loss, such as a death of a loved one or a divorce, many others do not understand why they have lost enthusiasm and joy for life. Sometimes, depression can be hereditary and rooted in a chemical imbalance in the brain. Other times, individuals may feel like they have failed at accomplishing society’s expectations of raising a happy family, holding a successful job and having an active social life. Being exposed to the ideal images shared on social media may deteriorate an individual’s self-esteem even further, calling into question his or her happiness or worth.

It’s also very common for depressed individuals to struggle with anxiety. In fact, the two issues often come hand-in-hand and feed into one another. A person may feel worried about their incessant negative emotions or worthless because he or she cannot feel calm throughout the day. This can become a painful, destructive loop.

The good news is no matter how depression has affected you, you have hope to live a resilient and meaningful life. Depression therapy sessions can teach you how to work with your mind and body to create and experience lasting joy throughout your life.

Depression Treatment Can Help You Start Living A More Fulfilling Life

During nonjudgmental and compassionate depression therapy sessions, you and I will work together to understand how negative emotions have uniquely impacted your life. Drawing from your particular experience, we will develop an individualized plan to help you identify the triggers to your sadness, use body-centered practices to find relief and learn lifelong skills to be resilient to future hurdles.

Because living with depression is different for each individual, I will work to directly address your needs, while also taking into consideration your personal interests in different therapy techniques. We will go beyond traditional talk therapy to explore all of the potential triggers to your depressed feelings and develop effective ways to minimize or eliminate their impact.

Some of the therapy tools we may incorporate into depression counseling sessions include mindfulness, brainspotting and journaling. Learning to practice mindfulness, including breathing exercises, can help you focus on the fullness of the present moment, especially the positive sensations – an invaluable tool during sessions and in the future when you are feeling down.

If we determine that your feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness are rooted in a past trauma or a pivotal life moment, we may work with the brainspotting approach. Brainspotting allows your mind and body to heal from lingering pain in your past in order to move forward with greater lightness and confidence.

You may also benefit from journaling exercises to uncover the root causes to your low self-esteem. Through journaling, you and I can gain a better understanding of why certain thoughts leave you feeling depressed and physically drained.

You may believe that you have failed to resolve your depressed emotional state on your own and now feel even more hopeless. When you and I work together, you do not need to try to overcome your negative feelings alone. Depression treatment offers you the chance to learn more about why you struggle to feel happy, identify a route forward and take the necessary steps to find lasting relief.

It’s possible you are interested in treatment for depression, but you still have some questions and concerns…

Will I need to take medication for depression?

Medication can help you can find some fast relief from your most painful emotions. However, prescriptions are not magic and should not be considered a permanent solution. We will focus our work together on building up the innate strength and resources within your mind and body so you can live a resilient life – without relying on prescription drugs. That said, if you find it hard to focus during sessions because you are overwhelmingly distressed, I can refer you to a medical doctor who may prescribe you a short-term medication to facilitate our work together.

My depression comes and goes. Can’t I just bounce back like I usually do?

Even though you may have times in your life when you feel very content and functional, undergoing periodic waves of depression can still feel debilitating. It’s possible that as you get older, you have struggled more to bounce back from periods of sadness. We all have our limits, and sometimes we need to reach out to a professional to escape negative patterns before they get even worse. During sessions, you and I will highlight your strengths and reinforce the ways you have helped yourself feel happier in the past. We will also assess and implement innovative techniques that you may not have tried before so you can find more lasting relief.

I’m worried about what others will think of me if I seek therapy for depression.

Our sessions are confidential and located in a private setting so you do not need to worry about others finding out about your therapy if you do not want them to. In my experience as a depression therapist, I have actually found that many people view seeking treatment as an incredible strength. If you do decide to tell your closest loved ones and about your decision to attend therapy sessions, chances are they will admire you for your courage to do the work to improve your life. No matter whether you tell your loved ones about your therapy sessions, it’s likely they will notice a profound positive change in your mood and quality of life.

Live Joyfully And In The Moment

If you are ready to learn more about why you feel depressed and work with your mind and body to find long-term relief, please call or email me to schedule a free 30-minute phone consultation. Feel free to ask me any questions about my practice or voice any concerns you may have about therapy.

If you or a loved one suffered a severe head injury and are now battling with irritability or anger issues, you’re not alone. It’s common for survivors of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) to have trouble controlling their emotions. It's most difficult in the weeks and months immediately following the injury.